The Music Fades
by DramaticStarlet
Summary: All good things come to an end. Dedicated to my friends. TroyGabriella. ChadTaylor. ZekeSharpay. JasonMartha. RyanKelsi.


--

**Title: **The Music Fades  
**Pairings: **Chaylor (Chad / Taylor), Jartha (Jason / Martha), Zekepay (Zeke / Sharpay), Ryelsi (Ryan / Kelsi), Troyella (Troy / Gabriella)

**Author: **DramaticStarlet / Katie Lynn  
**A/N: **(: I wrote this last August, and I decided to repost it, because I was so proud of it.

So yes.

Different parts of this story are dedicated to my different friends on this site. (: Watch out for your name!!

--

The last day of summer. It's sacred in Albuquerque.

On the night of August 21st, East Albuquerque quiets. The wild, late-night, week-night parties come to a close. The swimming pools close until the next May. End of summer clearances are revoked, so everything returns to it's normal prices. And for different people, different things end.

It may be a summer fling, it may be a party-all-night-long lifestyle. It may be a summer job, or even a friendship.

For ten friends, the end of summer is a beginning...

--

_chad & taylor  
_**dedicated to lena (luvschaylor4ever)**

"Are you sure?" Taylor bit her lip.

"Tay, it's dinner with your parents and siblings. It can't be that bad," Chad smirked as he opened Taylor's front door.

"Okay...if you're sure," Taylor sighed.

"Taylorenne? Is that you?" a womanly voice softly said.

"Yeah, it's me, Mother. I brought a guest for dinner," Taylor said.

"Mmm, good. I made plenty," the woman (presumably Mrs. McKessie) enthusiastically cried from afar.

Chad looked at Taylor, raising an eyebrow; "Taylorenne?"

"Oh, um, that's my full name. My parents call all of us by our full names. They're very traditional," Taylor bit her lip.

"I see. So what's for dinner?" he smiled a little.

"Five...four...three...one," she whispered.

"Dinner!" Mrs. McKessie shrill-ly called.

Three bodies scurried down the steps and into the dining room. Taylor followed and so did Chad.

"Pray for yourself," Taylor fleetingly whispered into his ear as they sat down.

"Mother, Dad, this is Chad Danforth," Taylor said as soon as everyone had settles.

"It's nice to meet you, Chad. Finally. Taylor talks about you sometimes. I hope you like pork chops," Mrs. McKessie grinned.

"Oh, yeah, it's my favorite. And the pleasure is all mine," Chad replied politely.

"Well, we could spend all day exchanging pleasantries. Can we eat?" the boy sitting across from Taylor whined.

"Patrick, we have a guest," Mr. McKessie scolded.

"Oh, I almost forgot! That's my brother Rick, and my sisters Bebe and Massie," Taylor said while spooning a heap of mashed potatoes onto her plate.

"However, my lovely wife Leah and I prefer to call them Patrick, Meredith, and Beatrice," Mr. McKessie objected. Taylor nodded, but didn't say anything.

"..Hey, man, don't you play for the Wildcats?" Rick looked up from his dinner plate.

"Yeah! I love basketball," Chad lit up.

"Duh. He's the only cute one at the team. Next to that Zeke guy," Massie giggled.

Taylor blushed, and Chad smirked.

And an awkward pause ensued.

"Chad, really, you must eat something. You've barely touched your food!" Mrs. McKessie said.

"Well, he can't reach anything! Taylorenne, put some of those collard greens on his plate. And some of those potatoes. All he can reach over there are those candied carrots," Mr. McKessie chuckled, and Taylor did as her father told her.

Chad didn't know how he was going to eat a pork shop the size of Rhode Island, a serving of (nasty) candied carrots, a huge heap of masked potatoes, like, two servings of collard greens, and one dinner roll. But he was going to eat every bite. And enjoy it all, even he had to shove it down his throat.

"Where do you plan on going to college?" Bebe, obviously the oldest, asked.

"I'd like to go to U of A, but if that doesn't work out, then my second choice is The New Mexico Institute of Mathematics," Chad said, taking a bite of pork chop.

"Both of those are very prestigious. You're very smart?" Mrs. McKessie pointed out.

"Haha, I'd like to consider myself that. Taylor might disagree," Chad laughed.

Taylor smiled, lightly punching his shoulder.

"So, are you guys, like, dating?" Massie, who looked about eleven, questioned.

"_Meredith_," Mr. McKessie eyed his daughter.

"I don't know if I'd call it that..." Chad mumbled incoherently. Taylor look down before sipping at her glass of milk.

Another awkward pause.

"Um, are you a mathlete or something?" Bebe raised an eyebrow.

"A mathlete? Well, if I can't be a basketball player, then I'd like to go into accounting. Math is my strong subject," Chad replied.

"Really? That's Taylorenne's best subject, too! And science, of course," Mrs. McKessie brightened, slicing her pork chop.

"Mother, I think he already knew that. We _do _go to the same school. Plus we hang out all the time," Taylor smirked.

"Mommy, may I be excused? I need to read my book," Massie looked hopeful.

"...Alright. But finish your milk," Mrs. McKessie sighed as Massie gulped down the rest of her milk and scurried back up the stairs.

"That girl's always running places. She has no patience," Mr. McKessie shook his head.

"Agreed," Rick rolled his eyes.

To be very truthful, Chad was bored out of his mind. The food was delicious and Taylor's family was nice, but they were just too quiet. Even outspoken Taylor was unusually meek.

Chad began thinking of all the things he was going to do the next day at school. Excluding _learn_, of course.

And before he knew it, Mrs. McKessie was serving dessert.

"Mrs. McKessie, I'm fine, really," Chad said, and it was the truth.

"Oh, don't be modest! Please just have _one _little piece of pie?" Mrs. McKessie smiled hopefully.

Chad obliged, but not willingly.

The pie felt heavy on his fork as he devoured the piece quickly. "It was so nice of you to let me have dinner with you. I really, really appreciate it. But, you know, tomorrow's the first day of school, so I should start getting ready." Chad plastered a smile on his face as he stood up.

"It was our pleasure," Mrs. McKessie waved.

--

"Taylor, come in! Honey, it's been forever!" Mrs. Danforth smiled brightly, extending open the front door.

"Haha, yeah, no kidding. It's good to see you, Mrs. D.," Taylor laughed.

"Chad's up in his room. What'd you feed that boy? He came in, chugged down half a bottle of Pepto-Bismol and went upstairs," Mrs. Danforth chuckled.

"A lot. We fed him a lot," Taylor's smirked as she ran up the Danforth's steps and into Chad's room. She found him laying on his bed, his eyes closed.

"Boo!" Taylor screamed.

Chad's eyelids flew open. "Jeez, Taylor!" he cried.

"Haha, sorry, you set yourself up. Can I get you anything to _eat_?" Taylor giggled.

"Yeah, funny. Could you get me a stomach pump?" Chad glared.

"God, I'm so sorry about that. I probably should have warned you about serving sizes in my house..." Taylor blushed.

"That would have been nice. Anyway, about what Massie said," Chad sat up, looking at Taylor.

"Um, you mean about reading her book?" Taylor stiffened.

"No, about us dating..." he quietly stated.

"Oh, right. If you want, maybe, if - "

"Would you like to go to to a movie this Saturday?" he cut her off.

"Like on a date?" Taylor's jaw dropped.

"Must be your lucky day." Chad laughed, repeating the words he'd spoken 7 months earlier.

"I'd love to," she grinned, her cheeks coloring as Chad's arms enveloped her.

"I love the last day of summer," Chad mumbled against Taylor's hair...

--

_jason & martha  
_**dedicated to morgan (soCLiCHEx)**

"Jason!" Martha Cox cried breathlessly as her best friend tickled her sides.

"Just say it, Mar!" Jason playfully replied.

"Okay, okay, mercy," she sighed as the ticklish sensation subsided.

"See? How hard was that?" Jason laughed a little, putting an arm around Martha.

"You're such a jerk," Martha smiled.

"So, I'm working on a new movie," Jason said.

"Really? What's this one about?" Martha asked.

"It's a documentary. About today," he grinned, pulling up a few blades of grass from the soft ground.

"You mean the last day of summer?" she commented.

"Yep," Jason nodded.

"Sounds cool." Martha said.

A long pause ensued, but it wasn't awkward. Jason and Martha's friendship was built on soft, slow, friendly silences like this one. Martha was kind of quiet, and Jason respected that.

The breezy air made Martha's brown locks blow waywardly in the wind. Jason wished he could run his hands through her hair; it looked so silky and soft.

The fireflies glowed around them, and you could hear the crickets chirping in the background.

"It's so peaceful," Martha sighed, laying back onto the grass.

"Am I stupid?" Jason questioned suddenly.

"What? Of course not. You just...say the wrongs things at the wrong times," Martha patted Jason's shoulder gently.

"Thanks, Mar," he grinned.

And then, silence again.

Jason didn't_ like _like Martha. When he looked at her, he didn't feel anything. When he put his arm around her neck, there were no tingles.

And Martha definitely didn't _like _like Jason. She'd shown interest in lots of other guys. Jared Murillo (one of the basketball players), a couple of guys in the drama club, even a college intern once. But never Jason.

"Is it me or does that cloud look like Eva Longoria?" he looked at Martha seriously.

"Hm...well, I guess that could be her eyes...and that could be her mouth...and maybe that could be her hair," Martha pointed at different parts of the cloud.

Martha always knew exactly what Jason meant.

"Mar?" Jason said, sitting up.

"Hm?" she returned, smiling smally.

"Can I kiss you? Just really quick," he asked.

"...Sure..." she awkwardly replied. He moved toward her, kissing her softly on the lips.

"Anything?" he blinked.

"Mmm, no. Sorry, dear." Martha patted Jason's hand gently.

"Oh, good," Jason let out a relieved sigh as Martha laughed.

"Jase, you're a funny guy."

"You won't find me so funny when I tell you that I've had my video-camera in the bushes this whole time so I could film this for my documentary," he smirked.

"WHAT?!" Martha cried, pouncing onto him.

"Ow! Martha! Stop pulling my hair! I'm too pretty to be treated like this!" Jason wailed.

Picture perfect for his documentary.

--

_zeke & sharpay  
_**dedicated to caitlin (xoAlmostFamous) & mikki (CO.ZE.TY.OMI2)**

"Zeke, I DON'T BAKE!" Sharpay Evans fumed.

"But Shaaaar, you've never even tried." Zeke Baylor pouted.

"The cute 'poor me' crap isn't gonna work." Sharpay firmly stated, crossing her arms.

"Just one batch of cookies." Zeke pleaded.

"..Alright. One batch. That's it. Then I need to go home and prepare my outfit for tomorrow," Sharpay caved, running a hand through her blond hair.

"Good! Now instead of chocolate chip, we're going to make _no-bake _cookies," Zeke said, opening his cupboards.

"What? That's ridiculous. You HAVE to bake cookies," Sharpay rolled her eyes incredously.

"Not these. Will you get some flour out of that cupboard for me?" Zeke pointed across the room.

"But - "

"No more questions! Just trust me, Shar," he scolded.

"Okay, fine," she stuck her tongue out, removing the flour from the cupboard.

Zeke had several items in his arms. Chocolate chips, peanut butter, and some oatmeal.

"Mmm, well, if this recipe involves peanut butter, then I have no objections." Sharpay laughed, screwing the lid off of the peanut butter and sticking her finger into the jar. As she licked the peanut butter off of her finger, she noticed Zeke staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing. That just looked kinda hot," he blushed a bit, turning on the stone. She grinned, cutting open the bag of chocolate chips. While he was getting a measuring cup out, she stuck her hand in the peanut butter jar, pulling out a big glob. When Zeke neared her again, she raised her hand up.

"Shar...what's that glob of peanut butter for?" Zeke's eyes widened. She giggled, raising her hand a little higher.

"Um...er...well..." Zeke looked around the kitchen and spotted the bag of flour. He stuck his hands in the bag, all the while staring at Sharpay.

"Hey now, I was just kidding!" she lowered her hand, but it was too late. A cloud of flour hit her hair, her face, her tank top, her miniskirt.

"AHHH! WAR!!" Sharpay screamed, throwing the peanut butter across the room, hitting Zeke's cheeks and neck.

He gaped, throwing a handful of chocolate chips at her.

"You asked for this, Baylor, you know that?" Sharpay grinned, tossing some oatmeal at him.

"That's your counterattack? Do I _look _like a bird feeder?" Zeke chortled, moving cautiously toward the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" she raised a bemused eyebrow.

"This!" he cried, whipping out a bottle of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup.

"Zeke. Have mercy on me," she raised her hands up. He set the bottle down, backing away.

"Baby, you're such a sucker," Sharpay laughed, picking up the bottle.

"Oh...God."

She quickly opened the cap, throttling Zeke with a shower of chocolate syrup. Zeke flailed around, shielding himself with the bag of flour.

"Ezekiel Baylor! What's going on in here?" a high-pitched voice screeched. Sharpay dropped the bottle of chocolate sauce, and Zeke removed his hand from the bag of flour.

"Uh, sorry, Mom. Sharpay and I just got a little carried away..." Zeke blushed a little, wiping his hnds on his basketball shorts.

"...Just clean it up." Mrs. Baylor rolled her eyes, rubbing her temples.

As soon as Mrs. Baylor was out of earshot, Sharpay started giggling like crazy. Zeke tried to keep a straight face, but he started laughing with her. She stopped chuckling long enough to round the kitchen and climb up onto the counter-top closest to him.

He wrapped his arms around her, their lips meeting slowly, softly. It was a gentle kiss, like their lips were made of porcelain.

Sharpay had never been kissed so tenderly before. "Zeke," she whispered, setting a hand on his cheek.

"Hm?" he asked dreamily.

"You taste like peanut butter."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should. Now, we have some major cleaning up to do," Sharpay groaned.

"I have an idea. What if we put away all of the stuff we got out, and then use the attachment on the sink to spray everything off?" he replied, motioning toward the stainless steel sink.

"That's the easy way out," she crossed her arms.

"You're right," Zeke sighed.

"So let's do it, Baker Boy!" Sharpay cried.

Zeke just smiled.

She was such a tease.

--

_ryan & kelsi  
_**dedicated to di (DramaDork21) & kiowa (Bandit's Girl)**

"That's still the wrong key!" Kelsi Nielson shouted.

"For Christ's sake, Kelsi, what's the freaking CORRECT key?!" Ryan Evans slammed his hand against the piano keys.

"F! The key of F! You keep hitting D!" Kelsi retorted.

"You just said it as D!" Ryan threw his hands up in defeat.

"No, I said F! Need a hearing aid, Gramps?" she crossed her arms.

"Okay, okay. Let's just calm down," Ryan breathed.

"Alright, let's take a break from the music. Why don't we focus on the script," Kelsi sighed.

There was only one person, _ever_, who could fire Kelsi up. And that was Ryan Evans.

"So, why don't we focus on the scene right after Jack and Leslie sing _Truly_. Fair enough?" he said. Kelsi nodded, picking up her copy of the script.

Ryan and Kelsi were currently working on the script and musical pieces for the fall musical. So, instead of enjoying the last day of summer, they were hard at work, perfecting everything.

They'd always made a good team. And, usually, Ms. Darbus loved Ryan's script and Kelsi's music enough to choose them for a school musical. Their hard work would pay off in the end.

The run-through of the script had been going smoothly, until they reached a kiss.

"Um, Ryan...there's a kiss here," Kelsi looked at her partner.

"I know. I thought the only way to to finish this scene was with a kiss," Ryan nodded enthusiastically.

"I agree...but since we're running through the script, should, um, _we _kiss?" Kelsi bit her lip.

"...Oh. Well, er, I mean, I _guess _we could," he blinked, looking down.

Kelsi had been kissed by only one boy in her life. Jason. But they'd just been doing it on a dare. It was a forced kiss.

If she kissed Ryan, though...it would be a valid, voluntary kiss.

She moved toward Ryan, tilting her head a little. Their lips touched quickly, and then they jumped apart.

"Well, I think I should go. You know...fix a few things in the script..." Ryan plastered a smile on his face as he exited the Nielson's piano room.

--

"You WHAT?!" Sharpay cried.

"I kissed Kelsi, okay? And...I liked it. A lot. But then I screwed up and just ran out on her, so I don't know if Kelsi even likes me too, because I didn't stay long enough to ask," Ryan babbled.

"So call her! Or go back!" Sharpay smacked his shoulder.

"Ow! Wait, Shar, is there flour in your hair?" Ryan raised a curious eyebrow.

"Um, no?" Sharpay blushed a little, before walking out of the room.

"I'm never going to understand her," Ryan shook his head. The doorbell rang suddenly, high-pitched and annoying. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" he shouted.

Opening the front door, he realized that it was Kelsi. Wait, Kelsi?

"Uh, hey, Kels," he awkwardly stated.

"Ryan, I think we should talk about..."

And she was off. When Kelsi was nervous, she rambled. Endlessly.

"Kelsi!" Ryan clamped a hand over her mouth, raising his eyebrows.

"Sorry. Was I doing it again?" she blushed.

"Yep," Ryan laughed a little.

"Okay. So, what I was trying to say is that, um, well, I like you," Kelsi breathed.

"What?" Ryan's eyes widened.

"I l-like y-you...i-is that b-bad?" she stuttered, tripping over her words.

"Really? Because I like you too," Ryan brightened.

"Oh, thank God. I was afraid that you didn't like me back," Kelsi sighed.

"So does this mean..."

"Yeah, I guess so," she nodded.

He in leaned into kiss her, but she pulled back.

"I know that this sounds really elementary school considering we're going to be seniors in high school but do you think that we could just start out with holding hands?" she bit her lip.

"I'd like that," Ryan smiled.

"So, you didn't change that kiss at the end of the scene to a jazz square, did you?" Kelsi giggled.

"You're not funny, you know that?" he glared playfully.

"I think I'm funny. Hey, do I look any taller?" she asked him, stepping into the house and closing the door behind her.

Did she looked any taller? Not really. At least not to Ryan.

"Yeah. Definitely!" he nodded enthusiastically.

"Really?" she blushed a little.

She laced their fingers together. It was so much better then kissing.

--

_troy & gabriella_  
**dedicated to ginny (sweet-virginia-sparks) & cadence (Vrai Amour)**

"Gabriella, I love you." Troy said, looking at his girlfriend tenderly, his blue eyes clouded with emotion.

"I love you ten times more." she whispered, tears clinging to her eyelashes.

He did love Gabriella. He loved her so much it hurt.

"So, tomorrow, when we go to school, do you think Ms. Darbus is gonna make fun of us? I can just see it..._Bolton! Montez! Quit it with the kissy faces!_" Gabriella giggled through her tears.

Troy laughed as well, wrapping his arms around Gabriella a little tighter.

It was dark out now. The stars were shiny and bright, and the moon was full and beautiful. He barely noticed the tear that was dripping down his cheek.

"Troy. You're tearing up," Gabriella turned towards him, wiping away the tear dripping down his cheek.

"I know, I know. I'm just...really happy. Happy tears," he grinned, sniffing a little.

"We're only 17. Isn't that wild? I feel so much older when I'm with you, Troy," she said, pulling a few tissues out of her pocket.

"I age you? Well, that's good to know," he sarcastically stated.

"No, no, I mean, like, I just feel like I've known you my whole life."

"I feel the exact same way, Gabi."

A shooting star shot through the sky. Troy didn't have to ask Gabriella to know that she was making a wish. She'd always wished on shooting stars.

"What'd you wish for?"

"I wished that it wasn't the last day of summer." she laughed.

"I wouldn't wish for that. Because then it wouldn't be tomorrow," Troy sighed, stroking his index finger down Gabriella's cheek.

"What's tomorrow? Other than D-Day?" she smirked.

"Tomorrow's the day that we officially being our future together. The day that we start making our own decisions. And, also, tomorrow is our 6-month And I got you something special," he whispered softly.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Gabriella looked at him.

"I wanted to, though. I don't want you to think I'm cheap or anything," Troy replied.

"Troy Bolton, I don't think you're cheap. I didn't get _you _anything. Does that make _me _cheap?" Gabriella laughed, playfully smacking his shoulder.

He smiled at her and kissed her cheek gently.

When she wasn't looking, he looked at the shooting star crossing the sky, and made a quick wish_._

_I hope that this summer never fades away. _

-

Yes, I did redo the ending, FYI. (: I think it's better, not to mention less hurried.

**Please review with something more than "so cute!" or "i loved it," please!**


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